Unfortunately, not much research is being conducted now about Anthrax and its disease causing agent Bacillus Anthracis. This is mostly because of the extreme rarity of Anthrax cases. Most recent research on Anthrax occurred directly after the 2001 Anthrax Attacks. This page outlines some of what was done by scientists in this short period of interest in Anthrax.
In the Fall of 2001, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia conducted a series of tests to determine whether Bacillus Anthracis was developing a resistance to the drugs currently used to combat Anthrax. A drug resistent form of Anthrax would almost certainly be disasterous to humans and the idea was on the heads of many world scientists. Fortunately, the experiments from these results, later confirmed by the work of other researchers, indicated that serious drug-resistence had not developed in Anthrax. All 17 isolates of Anthrax collected by the researchers showed similar traits to 50 isolates collected collected from 1937-1997 by 21 countries. This indicated that Bacillus Anthracis had not changed much over the course of several decades and was still susceptable to drugs such as chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, rifampin, tetracycline, and vancomycin. However, the strains of Bacillus Anthracis did seem to be devloping minor resistence to some of the drugs, indicating that Anthrax still had the potential to develop drug resistence.
Meanwhile, the University of London developed two new types of vaccines for Anthrax. These vaccines proved effective in immunizing mice to the Anthrax strain though some complications did arise. Of course, these vaccines still have to be tested extensively before they can be safely administered to humans. However the development of new vaccines is a positive step towards newer and even more effective ways of preventing Anthrax infection.
As mentioned before, Anthrax outbreaks among humans are extremely rare. Those most at danger of infections are workers who come into close, unprotected contact with animal skins. However even in cases where people do contact Anthrax spores, there are generally too few to infect the person. The following are statistics derived from the Nation Master site for Anthrax mortality rates in 2004.
Argentina- 2 deaths
Chile- 2 deaths
Romania- 2 deaths
South Korea- 1 death
Paraguay- 1 death
Australia- 1 death
Germany- 1 death
Brazil- 1 death
Mexico- 1 death
Egypt- 1 death
Venezuela- 1 death
World Total- 14 deaths
Anthrax: What is Happening Now? Current Research
Unfortunately, not much research is being conducted now about Anthrax and its disease causing agent Bacillus Anthracis. This is mostly because of the extreme rarity of Anthrax cases. Most recent research on Anthrax occurred directly after the 2001 Anthrax Attacks. This page outlines some of what was done by scientists in this short period of interest in Anthrax.In the Fall of 2001, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia conducted a series of tests to determine whether Bacillus Anthracis was developing a resistance to the drugs currently used to combat Anthrax. A drug resistent form of Anthrax would almost certainly be disasterous to humans and the idea was on the heads of many world scientists. Fortunately, the experiments from these results, later confirmed by the work of other researchers, indicated that serious drug-resistence had not developed in Anthrax. All 17 isolates of Anthrax collected by the researchers showed similar traits to 50 isolates collected collected from 1937-1997 by 21 countries. This indicated that Bacillus Anthracis had not changed much over the course of several decades and was still susceptable to drugs such as chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, rifampin, tetracycline, and vancomycin. However, the strains of Bacillus Anthracis did seem to be devloping minor resistence to some of the drugs, indicating that Anthrax still had the potential to develop drug resistence.
Meanwhile, the University of London developed two new types of vaccines for Anthrax. These vaccines proved effective in immunizing mice to the Anthrax strain though some complications did arise. Of course, these vaccines still have to be tested extensively before they can be safely administered to humans. However the development of new vaccines is a positive step towards newer and even more effective ways of preventing Anthrax infection.
Current Statistics
As mentioned before, Anthrax outbreaks among humans are extremely rare. Those most at danger of infections are workers who come into close, unprotected contact with animal skins. However even in cases where people do contact Anthrax spores, there are generally too few to infect the person. The following are statistics derived from the Nation Master site for Anthrax mortality rates in 2004.Argentina- 2 deaths
Chile- 2 deaths
Romania- 2 deaths
South Korea- 1 death
Paraguay- 1 death
Australia- 1 death
Germany- 1 death
Brazil- 1 death
Mexico- 1 death
Egypt- 1 death
Venezuela- 1 death
World Total- 14 deaths
For further information visit:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/mor_ant-mortality-anthrax
or
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/a/anthrax/stats.htm
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